


December 13th: Nightmare Before Christmas

by Dazeventura6



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Christmas Shopping, M/M, Prompt Fill, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 04:01:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8829688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazeventura6/pseuds/Dazeventura6
Summary: Spencer takes Jack and Henry to the mall for some Christmas shopping and they have a lovely time but has he bitten off more than he can chew?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [ProfilersForChristmas2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ProfilersForChristmas2016) collection. 



          Spencer and the boys were excited and happy. Knowing that both Hotch and JJ were swamped with paperwork that needed to be finished before the holidays he had volunteered to take Jack and Henry Christmas shopping.

         The two boys were usually very well-behaved and Spencer loved spending time with his godson and Jack who was almost a son to him now that he and Hotch had finally gotten around to moving in together. Christmas excitement had however turned the six-and four-year-old into bundles of hyperactive energy. They had spent the entire ride to the Westfield mall almost bouncing in their seats chattering nonstop about what they were going to buy and what they were hoping to get for Christmas, so much so that Spencer was thankful for the fact that they had seatbelts. He grinned at the thought that they might have taken off through the roof of the car otherwise.

Spencer was highly amused by their antics and slightly worried about how he was going to keep track of them both once they got to the mall in their current hyperactive states. When they reached the mall the boys took off immediately towards the holiday display and Spencer had to run to keep. He finally caught up to them and managed to grab onto their hands to keep them from tearing off in opposite directions.

With a firm grip on both their hands he led the boys around the mall occasionally stopping to buy little gifts whenever they spotted something they wanted to buy for their parents and friends which they could afford. Soon the trio was loaded down with bags and Spencer was running out of hands to carry bags and hold on to the boys.

       It had been a fun trip but Spencer was cursing himself for turning down Jessica’s offer to come along and help. He could really do with another adult to watch the boys as they seemed intent on haring off in different directions at the same time. He promised himself that the next time anyone offered he wouldn’t let his pride get in the way of accepting help.

      After a while they decided to stop at the pretzel stand to grab a quick snack. They each got what they wanted, found a table and settled in to enjoy their food. Spencer listened as the boys chattered away about the things they were doing at school in the run-up to Christmas. After their snack, somehow he found himself carrying all the packages while the boys bounced ahead of  him as he rushed to keep up.

      As they walked past the shops occasionally stopping to look at something in the windows Spencer spotted a beautiful watch that he thought would be a perfect present for Aaron. He called out to the boys to stop for a minute and looked closely at the watch to see if it really was the watch he had been wanting to buy. When he looked up a few minutes later deciding to go in and buy the watch, he found he was all alone. His heart stopped as he spun in place looking everywhere for the boys but they were nowhere to be seen.

        Fervently praying to any and all deities that he didn’t believe in that the boys had wandered a little further ahead and were just round the corner he ran. When he rounded the corner and didn’t see them he started panicking. Working at the BAU did not really lend itself to an optimistic view of the human race and all the things that could have happened to the boys ran through his mind at light speed even as his eyes continued to scan the crowds.

_       Aaron and JJ were going to kill him if he lost the boys like this. He should never have agreed to take them out alone. He was such an idiot. What made him think that he could handle two boys in a busy mall at Christmas all alone? Oh god oh god oh god he really was so stupid. He should have made sure the boys had stopped when he called out to them. He should have known better than to take his eyes off them for even one second. What good was a watch when he knew Aaron would never forgive him if something happened to Jack? _

     Spencer’s heart clutched in his chest at the thought of something happening to Jack, who was becoming like a son to him and Henry, his sweet godson. He would never forgive himself if something happened to either of them because he was not paying attention. It had only been a couple of minutes of inattention but he knew all too well what could happen in a few minutes.

_      No no no no no. He wouldn’t panic. He would try to find the boys. If they had just wandered off, then they would have to be somewhere up ahead. He would look in all the shops ahead and if he couldn’t find them then he could panic. _ Spencer took a deep breath and then another to help steady himself and tried to think clearly.

_         Where would the boys go? They had been talking about the new Star Wars drone and there was a toyshop just up ahead. There was also the bounce house place before that. Hopefully they were just in one of these two places. _

        Spencer hurried forwards as fast as the crowds would allow him scanning the mall as he went. Every time he thought he saw two little blonde heads his breath caught in his chest and he was disappointed when it turned out not to be Jack and Henry.

_          Please please please let me find them. Please let them be safe. Please just let them be in the toyshop. Please. _ Spencer prayed repeatedly as he walked towards the toyshop.

      He stopped to look into the bounce house calling for the boys and didn’t spot either of them in there. His heart fell as he let out a disappointed breath and tried to control his rising panic until he had looked inside the toyshop.

        Walking in the first thing he saw was the drone coming right towards his face. He yelped and ducked causing the kids watching the demonstration to laugh. As he straightened angrily prepared to take out his fear and frustration on the hapless store employee he saw Jack and Henry laughing along with the rest of the kids. His breath whooshed out in relief as he felt like he could take a full breath for the first time in what felt like hours but had probably not been more than a few minutes.

     He brushed off the apologies of the person demonstrating the drone and walked up to the boys, dropped the bags he hadn’t realised he was still carrying and hugged them close.

“What’s up, Uncle Spence?” Henry asked squirming out of his hug.

“I thought I’d lost you boys. Didn’t you hear me calling to you to stop?” The genius said letting both boys go as he stood up and ran a hand over their heads ruffling their hair.

“Oh, we’re very sorry, Spencer. We didn’t notice you weren’t with us.” Jack said contritely.

“It’s fine, boys. Just make sure I’m with you all the time next time. We wouldn’t want you getting lost, now would we?” Spencer answered putting his arms around the boys.

“Yes, Uncle Spence.” “Yes, Spencer”. The boys chorused. Letting out a relieved laugh and smiling at the boys Spencer picked up his bags.

“So are you boys done here? Can we go home now?” Spencer asked as he was feeling almost limp with relief from having found the boys now that the adrenalin had worn off. When the boys nodded they walked to where they had parked the car to find Aaron leaning against it.

       Spencer grinned at the other man as the boys ran towards him calling to him. After getting the boys settled in the back seat Aaron turned to Spencer and kissed him which the younger man returned enthusiastically.

“What happened, love? You look a little pale. The boys didn’t tire you out too much?" Aaron asked as they broke apart looking carefully at his lover.

“Profilers!” Spencer muttered under his breath as he looked up at the other man. “Later.” He said climbing into the car.

       The unit chief looked quizzically at him and got in as well. They dropped Henry off with Will and proceeded towards home. Later after they had had dinner and Jack was asleep Aaron watched as Spencer collapsed onto the couch.

“Are you going to tell me what had you so frazzled?” Aaron asked as he sat down next to Spencer and pulled the genius into his arms.

“How mad would you be if I told you I lost Jack and Henry at the mall? It was just a few minutes but felt like a lifetime!” Spencer said burying his face in Aaron’s shoulder so he didn’t have to look at the other man.

“Hey, hey, now..... You didn’t lose them. They are home and safe.” Aaron said rubbing circles in Spencer’s back reassuringly.

“Besides, it’s happened to me too.” He continued.

“Really?” Spencer said looking up at the dark-haired profiler.

“Yeah.... Couple of years ago at the zoo. I let go of his hand for one second and he was gone.I searched everywhere and finally found him at the monkey enclosure staring raptly at them. He hadn’t even noticed that I wasn’t with him. Longest ten minutes of my life. I swear I’ve got grey hairs from that day.”Aaron said laughing ruefully and Spencer joined in, the relief and fear he had felt that day making him sound a little hysterical. Aaron placed a kiss on the top of his head.

“I can relate. I am never taking the boys shopping alone ever again.” Spencer stated emphatically yawning behind his hand tiredly.

“Come on, let's get you to bed.” Aaron said laughing at his genius and pulled the younger man up along with him. They made their way to bed teasing each other lightheartedly and working on forgetting the trials of the day.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for this prompt.
> 
> Shopping in a mall on a Saturday before Christmas is already nightmarish all on itself. But it becomes a whole different ballgame when Jack and/or Henry go missing...


End file.
